


Take My Hand

by mysticmajestic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comedy, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:51:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14085342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticmajestic/pseuds/mysticmajestic
Summary: All Keith wants is to hold Lance's hand. Why is that so damn difficult?





	Take My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my computer, unfinished, for months. I finally got back to it and finished it off. Hope you enjoy!

They had been dating for three weeks already. This should not be so hard.

Keith wanted to hold Lance’s hand, but he didn’t know how. No, no. That was wrong. He didn’t know how to go about reaching out to take it, didn’t even know if he could. But every time he spotted Lance’s slender hands just hanging casually by his sides, or waving around as he talked animatedly, Keith wanted to take them and hold them, claim them for his own.

 _Wanting_ something so innocuous as physical contact was a first for him. He had gone his whole life without wanting to touch someone or be touched. If there had ever been a time when he’d yearned for it, he couldn’t remember.

If the mere act of hand-holding was this daunting for him, then he had no idea what would happen if he and Lance ever got around to doing anything more. L-like … you know, _kissing_.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted, snapping Keith out of his trance. “Focus!”

A sword swung for his head, a vicious swipe that he only just managed to duck. It’d come so close to hitting him that he felt the blade slide through his hair.

Keith let himself fall to the ground on his back, only to push his legs up over his head and roll up onto his feet in one smooth motion, cursing himself for zoning out in the middle of training.

The gladiator was relentless; it chased him down, swinging once, twice, three times at his head, legs and torso. Keith, still off-kilter, barely managed to dodge them. If he didn’t get himself back on track, he was going to end up black, blue, and sore all over.

“Pause training sequence!” Shiro barked. The gladiator immediately crumpled to the ground. “What was that, Keith? If that had been a real battle, you’d be dead.”

“I got distracted,” said Keith, shoulders slumping, disappointed with himself. There really was no way to hide from the truth. “It won’t happen again.”

He and Shiro were the only ones in the training room. It was an unwritten rule that everyone had to have a spotter these days to call the shots; spotters had the right to change or stop battle sequences if they felt their partner was taking it too far.

Keith was the reason they had that rule in the first place.

Shiro placed a warm, solid hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You want to talk about it?”

“Never mind, it’s stupid,” said Keith quickly, shaking his head. He’d probably die of embarrassment admitting to Shiro that he was making such a big deal out of wanting to hold hands with Lance. “It won’t happen again. You can—you can start the training sequence up again.”

There was a lengthy pause. Keith ducked his head under the weight of Shiro’s scrutiny. He hoped this wasn’t a prelude to a lecture of some sort. He wasn’t in the mood.

“Alright,” said Shiro slowly, letting his hand drop from Keith’s shoulder. “But you know you can come to me about anything, right? No matter how stupid you think it might be.”

The smile Keith gave him was tight, forced. “I know. Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro waited a moment, as if wondering whether a bit more time would crack Keith’s resolve. When it didn’t, he sighed and stepped back, saying, “Resume training sequence.”

This time, Keith was careful not to let himself get distracted as the gladiator rose smoothly to its feet and lunged at Keith.

 

* * *

 

“Whoa, nice shiner you have there.” Lance tapped to the right of his own eye, then nodded at Keith, as if he wasn’t already aware of it.

“The gladiator got a few good hits in,” Keith conceded, rounding the kitchen table that Lance sat at, eating a bowl of goo, to get himself a drink of water. “I still kicked its ass, though.”

Lance hummed.

“If you’re not going to a med-pod, you’ll want to ice that,” he said, swirling his spoon through his food. “So your eye doesn’t swell shut.”

“I know how to take care of a bruised eye, Lance.” Keith smiled over his shoulder to lessen the unintentional bite in his tone. “Thanks, though.”

Lance shrugged. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t at least _try_ to take care of you somehow?” He dropped his spoon in the bowl and stood up, walking over to Keith to wrap his arms around his waist. “You make that _so difficult_ sometimes.” He sighed dramatically.

Heart thudding against his ribcage, Keith tensed up on instinct. He wasn’t used to people coming up behind him, throwing their arms around him. Often, he forgot just how touchy-feely Lance was. But Lance never did let him forget for very long.

Those hands of Lance’s were curled over Keith’s stomach, fingers laced together. If he wanted, all Keith had to do was reach down and touch them, coax Lance’s fingers to release each other and grab for Keith’s. Really, there was nothing to it, so why was his heart pounding so fast? Why did he feel the urge to push Lance away and run screaming? This was _ridiculous_!

 _Just do it,_ he told himself _. Just grab his hand. It is_ right there _. There’s absolutely_ _nothing to it_ —

“Paladins!” Allura’s sharp voice over the intercom startled Keith and Lance apart. “Get changed into your armour and get into your lions immediately! There is a Galra ship approaching the castle.”

Lance’s lips twisted bitterly. “Never a dull moment, huh? Let’s go.”

They ran for their hangars, and every step of the way Keith cursed himself for squandering yet another perfect opportunity.

 

* * *

 

Keith slammed his sword into the gladiator several times in quick succession, from the side of the head down to the hips. It barely had enough time to react to one hit before he got another, but after each one, some of Keith’s frustration at himself finally started to seep from his muscles.

“Dude, I think you’ve killed it,” said Lance’s amused voice from the doorway behind Keith. “You gonna let up, or you gonna break it first?”

Gritting his teeth, Keith aimed one last slice at the gladiator’s head, relishing the way his sword cut through metal and silicone with ease.

“End training sequence,” he said, and the gladiator crumpled at his feet. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Keith turned to Lance leaned against the edge of the door, ankles crossed, and arms folded loosely over his stomach, posture relaxed. “What’s up?”

Lance pushed away from the door and approached Keith, as if he’d been waiting for acknowledgement before he moved. “Just checking up on you.” His eyes dart around the training room. “You know, since you don’t have a spotter with you and all,” he added slyly.

Eyes rolling back in his head, Keith let out a miserable groan. “I completely forgot about that.” He licked his lips, shifting his weight onto his left foot. He shot Lance an imploring look. “Don’t tell Shiro; I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I won’t,” said Lance. After a moment of thought, he held up one finger. “On one condition.”

Keith ignored the way his heartbeat spiked. “What’s that?”

“Let me join in.” Lance grinned, summoning his bayard. He left it in its original state, waving it in Keith’s face. “I’m never gonna kick your ass if you get more training than me, and we can’t have that. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“And what exactly _is_ this ‘reputation’ of yours?” Keith asked, feeling a little playful now. There was something about Lance that always got him worked up in some way, always got him hooked before he knew what happened.

“As Voltron’s best sharpshooter!” Lance jabbed a thumb into his own chest, beaming. “If I fall behind, I’ll lose my spot!”

“You’re the _only_ sharpshooter on the team.” Keith sucked in his lower lip to hide a grin, turning his head away. “If you somehow ‘lose your spot’ when there’s no one else with the same skill set around to fill it, you’d be a pretty lousy marksman.”

“Hey!” Despite the way he shoved Keith in the chest, Lance was laughing. “Don’t be mean to me.”

 _Hands, hands, hands!_ “W-wouldn’t dream of it.”

Lance summoned his bayard, twirling it around his index finger. “Alright, let’s go!”

And if Keith trained a little harder than usual because he’d squandered yet another chance to hold Lance’s hand, well, at least he could blame it on needing to burn excess energy to sleep peacefully that night. Lance always bought that excuse.

“Alright,” said Lance, an indeterminable amount of time later. “I’m done. I stink, I’m tired, and I wanna go to bed.” He took one whiff of himself and added, face contorting into a disgusted grimace that made Keith chuckle, “After I shower, of course.”

“End training sequence,” said Keith, and the bots deactivated.

 

* * *

 

Infiltrating Galra ships was like a precise art now. Having been top dog for 10,000 years, the Galra had grown complacent and a majority of the warships had the exact same defence programming. Their codes were simple to crack, their androids easy to break. Sure, there were a few skirmishes here and there when they found a ship that broke the norm, but they were few and far between.

They had made the decision to infiltrate the next Galra ship they came across. Keith, Lance, Hunk Pidge, and Shiro were all aboard, having ridden only Red over.

“Pidge, you almost done in there?” Keith whispered, pushed up into the grooves between two metal beams protruding from the wall. “The next line of patrols is due any second now. We need to leave.”

“Almost,” said Pidge. “I need another few minutes.”

“Okay.” Keith leaned out slightly, peering down the vast corridor. It was empty. “Alright, we’re good for now. Lance, what about you?”

There was no answer.

“Lance? Lance, answer me!” If something happened to Lance—

“Sorry,” came Lance’s hushed voice. Keith slumped against the beams in relief. “A few patrols passed by me. They’re heading in your direction, man. They’ll be on you within two minutes, so head’s up.”

Great, just what they needed. “Roger that. Pidge, we need to go _now_.”

“The information is only eighty-four percent downloaded,” Pidge argued. “Something important could be on the other sixteen percent!”

“I know, I understand that. We just don’t have the time.”

“No, just—just hold them off until it’s done, alright?! I need all the information I can get.”

Keith opened his mouth to spit out frustrated vitriol— _they didn’t have time_! —when Shiro’s voice interrupted him. “We need to leave now,” he said, his tone inviting no argument. “There are more ships converging on this location. We don’t have the manpower to fight so many at once.”

Pidge said, “No, wait—”

“That’s an _order_ , Pidge,” said Shiro sharply. “We’ll make do with the information you’ve got so far. Everyone, get back to the Red Lion _now_.”

Pidge grumbled indecipherably over the coms. Thankfully, she relented.

 Keith was just about to step out from his hiding spot when at least five androids rounded the corner, guns at the ready. “Shit,” he breathed.

“What?” Lance asked immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“I need backup,” said Keith quietly. “There’s five—no,” he paused, watching four more turn the corner on the other end of the hallway, “there’s nine androids here. I’m pinned down in the centre of them all. They’re gonna find me.”

“I’m heading over to you,” said Lance. “Pidge, lock onto Keith’s location for me.”

“Will do,” said Pidge, with a sullen edge to her voice. Through the coms, Keith heard her stop running as she fiddled around with her technology. “Sending Keith’s location now—but be careful. For some reason, they’re all heading toward Keith. I count fifteen in total, approaching swiftly. They’ll all be on you in five minutes or less, Keith.”

Keith’s heart skipped a beat. There was no way that he and Lance could take on fifteen androids alone. He checked the location of said androids; all nine were stationed at the exits, unmoving. Were they waiting for the others to reach them?

“Might want to hurry,” he said quietly. “They’re just standing here, like they’re waiting for me to make the first move or something.”

“Alright,” said Shiro, “everyone double back and head toward Keith as fast as you can.”

“Roger that,” said Pidge and Lance.

“On my way,” said Hunk. “Is anyone getting a really bad feeling about this?”

“Yes,” said Pidge tightly. “They must be planning something.”

“Keith,” said Lance, “don’t engage them until we get there. Okay?”

“Not planning to.” There were way too many for him to handle, for a start. Even he knew better than to run into the fray alone this time. “Just hurry up.”

“Hurrying!”

Keith wished he could activate his bayard without alerting the androids to his presence. With no place to put it, he hadn’t even brought his Blade of Marmora sword. He was little more than a sitting duck. Seriously, what the hell were they all _waiting for_?

_Blam, blam, blam!_

Keith jumped at the sudden noise, heart leaping into his throat. Three of the androids were downed by gunshots to the head. At once, the other androids turned and marched down the hallway to the source, weapons at the ready.

“Come on, you freaky bastards!” Lance shouted. “Come get me!”

“Damn it, Lance,” Keith grumbled, activating his bayard now that it was safe for him to do so. He felled an android by stabbing it through the neck as it passed him, planting his boot in its side to knock it off when it got stuck. “So, it’s okay for you to go in guns blazing by yourself, but not me?”

“What can I say?” said Lance. “Sometimes you hog all the cool moments for yourself. Let someone else have some for a change!”

Despite rolling his eyes, Keith’s lips twitched as he hacked another android in two. Then he spans around and sliced the arm off another, before cleaving its head off its shoulders. He made short work of them, unable to help enjoying the thrill of the kill—even if they were only robots.

Suddenly, a blast knocked Lance into the hallway with a yelp. He crashed against the wall, stunned for a moment, and then rolled out of the way before gun fire could strike. The scorch marks indented the wall where Lance’s head had been only seconds before.

“Run, Keith!” Lance shouted, stumbling down the corridor. “More are coming!”

He slammed into Keith in his haste, caught him by the hand, and dragged him down the corridor as fast as they both could go without separating. In an instant, Keith’s mind went blank, and he stared down at their joined hands that swung between them. He was holding Lance’s hand. Lance had just grabbed him like it was the simplest thing in the world, as if it wasn’t something huge and important like Keith had been making it out to be.

Was it…not such a big deal then?

“Keith!” Lance shouted.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Keith looked up in time to see an android lunge at them. He reacted on instinct, shoving his sword through it before it had the opportunity to harm them. And then he squeezed Lance’s hand, wishing that he could feel the warm skin beneath the gauntlet.

“You’re holding my hand,” he blurted out stupidly.

Lance shot him an odd look. “Yeah, is that okay?”

“Y-yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You’re a bit odd with touches, you know,” said Lance. They rounded another corner into another long corridor. This one was thankfully empty, though they dared not slow their pace. “I kept catching you staring at my hands. I figured you thought there was something wrong with them. I wasn’t gonna do anything like grab your hand, honest, but, uh, I guess I got carried away. I can let go if you want?”

Keith tightened his grip, loosening only when Lance yelped in pain as his knuckles rubbed together. “Don’t you dare. There’s, um, there’s nothing wrong with your hands.” He knew his ears were bright hot with embarrassment because he could feel them burning. “I just always wanted to hold them and I didn’t know how.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know how?” Lance asked incredulously. “Just take my hand, that’s all there is to it. It isn’t rocket science, you know.”

“I know that!” _Yeah, now you do,_ his mind supplied unhelpfully. “I just wasn’t entirely sure!”

“Uh huh, yeah, sure.”

“Guys,” said Pidge’s voice over the intercom. “As great as it is that you two are working your shit out, could you please turn off your coms before you get into the mushy shit? You two are so ridiculously cute and innocent it’s almost nauseating. I may throw up all over Red at this rate.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything, but I agree with Pidge,” said Hunk. “Though good on you, Keith, for getting yourself sorted.”

“Be careful with Keith, Lance,” said Pidge. “He’s a very delicate flower. He needs lots of care and attention and may wither and die if you’re not careful.”

Shiro’s laughter echoed through the coms.

“Excuse me!” Keith growled. “Pidge, don’t make me find you and kick your ass! And don’t you dare throw up on Red or I’ll wipe your nose in it like a dog.”

“There’s the Keith we all know and love,” laughed Hunk. “But seriously dude, hurry up and get here. We cleared out the sentries in this area, but there’s more on the way.”

“On our way,” said Lance, and they sped up. He turned off his coms and added, “Well if that wasn’t embarrassing, then I don’t know what is.”

“Shiro didn’t say anything,” said Keith darkly.

“Is…is that a bad thing?”

“It means he’s saving all his teasing for later. Get ready. If you think Pidge’s teasing is bad, she’s got nothing on him.”

“At least I’ll be spared the ‘hurt my brother and I’ll hurt you’ speech.” Lance shuddered. “My sister Veronica decked my brother Luis’s girlfriend when she found out she was cheating on him. Veronica apparently loosened five of her teeth in just one hit. If she can do that, Shiro can do worse.”

“Shiro is terrifying when he wants to be,” conceded Keith. “But he wouldn’t hit you if you hurt me; he’d just be extremely disappointed.”

“Oh god, that’s so much _worse_ …”

They arrived in the loading bay in no time at all, still holding hands—which was something that the rest of the team noticed, too, and started jeering at them for. Keith grumbled under his breath, bypassing them completely and dragging Lance up the ramp and into Red.

He turned his coms back on. “Get in everyone or I’ll leave you all behind.” Despite knowing he wouldn’t dare, it was gratifying to watch Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk scramble up the ramp anyway. He flew out of the loading bay and away from the cruiser.

 

* * *

 

After suffering many rounds of light-hearted teasing, Keith and Lance were huddled up on the lounges together. The rest of the room was deserted, and the lights were on the dimmest setting. Under the warmth of the dozens of blankets they’d commandeered for their cuddling session, Keith could barely keep his eyes open.

Lance was already asleep, head pillowed on Keith’s shoulder, snoring lightly. He looked so cute, Keith could hardly believe he could call Lance his. Smiling twitching on his lips, Keith picked up Lance’s warm, limp hand and threaded their fingers together, relishing the feel of skin-on-skin contact.  

There was nothing in the world that could make him happier than this.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @mystic-majestic.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it!


End file.
